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Updated: Aug 1, 2025
Synthesis and Testing of Supported Pt-Cu Solid Solution Nanoparticle Catalysts for Propane Dehydrogenation
Published on: July 18, 2017
Unlocking the Nucleophilicity of Strong Alkyl C-H Bonds via Cu/Cr Catalysis
Pan Peng1, Yifan Zhong1, Cong Zhou1
1The Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Direct functionalization of inert C-H bonds is one of the most attractive yet challenging strategies for constructing molecules in organic chemistry. Herein, we disclose an unprecedented and Earth abundant Cu/Cr catalytic system in which unreactive alkyl C-H bonds are transformed into nucleophilic alkyl-Cr(III) species at room temperature, enabling carbonyl addition reactions with strong alkyl C-H bonds. Various aryl alkyl alcohols are furnished under mild reaction conditions even on a gram scale. Moreover, this new radical-to-polar crossover approach is further applied to the 1,1-difunctionalization of aldehydes with alkanes and different nucleophiles. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the aldehyde not only acts as a reactant but also serves as a photosensitizer to recycle the Cu and Cr catalysts.
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